TODAY’S DEVOTION (THURSDAY 8TH AUGUST 2024)
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Romans 8:28-30 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 221ST DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
This is the day the LORD has made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it. Day unto Day we have seen His mercies. Night unto night His protection. We give Him all the glory for being our unchangeable God and true Father.
Indeed, if we had no Father in Heaven watching over us on earth, we would have been history. The expectations of the wicked concerning our lives would have been fulfilled. God has kept His word of mercy, kindness, protection, peace and victory for our lives. He has kept His word and we give him the glory!
His matchless effort to help us make Heaven speaks in our lives every day. There is no God who forgives sins and gives one the power to sin no more but our GOD. His love for us is beyond human description. The greatest of all is His word that has been guiding us. He said through the Psalmist;
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” Psalm 32:8 NKJV
Through this platform, the LORD has been teaching and guiding us daily. By His light many of us have been able to walk through darkness. By His power, we have been able to surmount obstacles and prevailed over prevailing circumstances.
By His enabling grace, we have been able to run over the wall and neutralize the spiritual troops of darkness.
By His truth, we have kept ourselves from the paths of the spirit of lawlessness. By His word, we have been able to survive the world. Again, I say “How great is His goodness, stored up for those who fear Him.”
IF THIS GREAT GOD WAS NOT ON OUR SIDE, THE ENEMY WOULD HAVE SURROUNDED US ON EVERY SIDE AND SWALLOWED US ALIVE.
Like the Psalmist, I will say;
“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,” Let Israel now say— “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us;
Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have gone over our soul; Then the swollen waters Would have gone over our soul.”
Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Psalm 124:1-6 NKJV
The predators that thought we will be food for them by now, could not have us for dinner after all they deployed against us. Indeed, blessed be the LORD who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
Except we give ourselves, if God did not give any as prey to the enemy, the enemy will have no meat to eat. These strategic interventions of God are important to our eternal and prophetic destinies.
His miracles have been a great help to us.
It is important to note that, one of the major things God does to help us fulfill destiny is the release of miracles. He releases them in different classes.
Yes, there are different classes of miracles. There are special miracles God does to enable His own fulfill their eternal or prophetic destiny. We will be looking at them today!
To start with, understand that the release of destiny is usually fought by the gates of hell, death and grave; it is usually resisted by the highest leadership of the kingdom of darkness. You see that in all that happened to our Bible fathers.
Our devotional text today is about what God said to us through apostle Paul, but let us begin with what happened between Him and Moses.
The Bible made it clear that Moses was not in position to bring Israel out of Egypt when the LORD first met Him, even if it was his destiny to do so. He said to the LORD “….. “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11 NKJV).
THIS WAS NOT JUST A DISPLAY OF HUMILITY BUT A FEELING OF INADEQUACY, CONSIDERING THE TASK THAT WAS AHEAD OF HIM.
You will always feel inadequate when the LORD asks you to do things in his will. Yes, things that falls into God’s will, especially as regards our destinies, are usually bigger than us. They cannot be done without a constant flow of miracles. The flow of miracles is to bear you witness so that you can keep doing what He has assigned you to do.
Concerning the word ministry of the 12 original apostles, the Bible says;
“For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward,
how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?” Hebrews 2:2-4 NKJV
If you look at this scripture, you will discover that God use signs, wonders and various miracles, according to His will, to help those He has sent to unleash their callings and fulfill their ministries.
He bears them witness with His supernatural moves so that they can be His witnesses; and indeed, with what they faced, if God had not bore our fathers witness by releasing destiny miracles, they would not have succeeded.
Destiny miracles are miracles God release to help us fulfill our ministries. For instance, Pharaoh would have destroyed Moses, the first time He appeared before him and said, “let my people go,” if not for the destiny miracles God released.
Maybe, Pharaoh’s snakes would have bitten moses to death if God had not acted swiftly. The Bible says;
“So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the LORD commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” Exodus 7:10-12 NKJV
IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT THAT AARON’S ROD DID NOT SWALLOW THE SNAKES OF PHARAOH?
That would have been the end of Moses. When we come face to face with things that are stronger than us in pursuit of destiny, that is when God releases destiny miracles to bail us out.
It was a miracle related to Moses’ destiny that saw him through when the rods of the enemy turned to snake; and the miracles continued until the gods of Egypt were smashed. The nation of Israel finally came out to release their destiny.
There can be no release of destiny without destiny miracles. Destiny miracles are usually released when all hope is lost.
Which brings us to the life of Paul in Acts 27. It was a destiny miracle that made sure he and all on board came out well when their ship had a fatal accident on the Mediterranean Sea. Even after coming out, the devil did not let him rest. He sent a poisonous snake after him. But God sent another destiny miracle to see him through.
No matter how often Satan attacks us, God will never be tired of sending destiny miracles our way to beat him in all fronts. He will not be tired of making sure that all things work together for our good. Concerning Paul, the Bible says;
“Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. And the native showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.
But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”
But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead.
But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.” Acts 28:1-6 NKJV
This is one of the most fascinating stories about the life and times of apostle Paul. He just escaped death on the high Sea, and the enemy sent another one to him in the snake. When the people saw the attack, they said “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”
Satan will not be tired of attacking us, and God will never be tired for helping us.
When they saw the snake on Paul’s hands, the people of Malta thought the attack of the snake was God judging Paul for his wicked deeds. But God sent a destiny miracle to defend him. Most times people call what we go through in the course of releasing our destinies God’s judgment.
The price of releasing destiny can be heavy at times. All kinds of snakes will attack us to make us look bad before those the LORD send us to. But like the LORD sorted out Paul with a destiny miracle, He will not fail in bailing us out.
The destiny miracle God sent to Paul turned the story that would have ended badly into a glorious end. In fact, the Bible says;
“However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days.
And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him.
So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.” Acts 28:6-10 NKJV
This scripture is full of truths, but we will limit ourselves to the subject in view!
It is the destiny miracles God send our way when we come face to face with adversity in the course of releasing our destiny, that make all things that the enemy throw at us to work together for our good.
OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT SAYS;
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Romans 8:28-30 NKJV
That is why if God send you on an errand, you do not go looking for who will support. You bend your knees in prayer and study, looking for the revelation of the miracles He has prepared for your kind of assignment.
Every destiny has its own unique battles, hence its own unique miracles. Yes, every destiny has its own unique way God uses in intervening in its battles. You must know your own and get your spirit interwoven with it.
For Samson he needed his hair to grow back. For David, it was the wisdom of Ahithophel being turned into foolishness that he needed. For Joshua, he needed the Sun and the moon to listen to him. For Joseph, he needed to be able to interpret the king’s dreams and that of those who joined him in prison from the king’s palace.
You have yours also. Discover and get it interwoven with your faith.
As we bring this to a close, I want to submit to you that who GOD calls, God justifies. Who He Justified He glorifies. You are destined for glory not shame. Do not give up or give in when you face the challenges of unleashing your divine destiny.
Stand strong doing only what God called you to do, expecting nothing but destiny miracles, and you shall see the salvation of the LORD. Amen!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.
The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot at him and hated him.
But his bow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb. Genesis 49:22-25 NKJV